McCain’s questions stall general’s appointment

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration is withdrawing the nomination of Air Force Gen. Gregory S. Martin to be the next commander of U.S. Pacific Command, one of the top warfighting commands in the U.S. military.

A Pentagon announcement Wednesday evening said Martin had asked to withdraw, but it gave no reason.

A spokesman for Air Force Materiel Command, which Martin has headed since August 2003, said Martin believed that certain questions raised at his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday made his confirmation problematic.

Bryan Whitman, a spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, said Rumsfeld agreed to pull the nomination. He said no decision had been made on a new nominee, who is responsible for U.S. military operations throughout the Pacific and portions of the Indian Ocean.

Martin would have been the first Air Force officer to hold the Pacific Command post, which has traditionally been held by a Navy admiral. The current commander, Adm. Thomas Fargo, is scheduled to retire this fall.

Martin’s troubles at his confirmation hearing began with statements and questions posed by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. They pertained to a controversy over the Air Force’s proposed deal with Boeing Co. to lease 767 planes for use as aerial tankers, and to a scandal involving a former Air Force civilian official, Darleen Druyun, who was sentenced to nine months in prison Friday for helping Boeing obtain a lucrative contract in exchange for an executive job at the company.

Martin is not accused of wrongdoing in either matter, but McCain asserted that the general was “involved” in the $23 billion tanker lease arrangement. McCain pressed him so hard on the issues Wednesday that Martin concluded his confirmation would be held up for months, said Col. Jack Ivy, spokesman for Air Force Materiel Command.

“Gen. Martin’s overall assessment is that getting confirmed for U.S. Pacific Command would be difficult at this time,” Ivy said.

McCain is in a long-running dispute with the Pentagon and the Air Force over his unfulfilled request for e-mail traffic about the 767 lease deal with Boeing. McCain has held up other Pentagon nominations over this issue, including that of Lawrence Di Rita for the job of assistant secretary of defense for public affairs.